Hunting Grounds
by H3O
Summary: A group of nations are forced to participate in a bizarre game of predator and prey, but here's the twist - they don't know who the predator is, or where they are. This is a game of trust and tactic, a game where they are tasked to find the exit. Simple, right? Rating may change. Feedback is greatly appreciated!
1. Chapter 1 - Lights Out

**Author's Note** : Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read this story! 'Hunting Grounds' is my first time publishing a fanfiction in over a few years already, so I apologise if my writing skills are pretty bad Dx. English isn't my first language, but I did proofread this a few times so there shouldn't be that many mistakes (I hope, anyway).

I've had this not-very-original story idea with me ever since I was fourteen, however I was always too busy with school and/or procrastinating to actually have the time to write this. Now that years have passed I've decided that I may as well just write it to fulfill the wish of my younger self xD. I hope you enjoyed this chapter (sorry for the short length, I promise the next chapter will be a lot longer). Any feedback received is greatly appreciated~

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"…and I declare this boring meeting over!"

England sighed with immense relief. Finally he could get the heck out of this goddamn country and return back to his own. It was difficult having to survive in America with all its craziness, especially since he was forced to eat nothing he would consider 'edible' for the past week. How could one even find a McDonald's burger 'delicious', anyway? He almost puked just thinking about it.

Most of the other countries appeared as though they'd just woken up from a nap - not that this surprised him. He couldn't recall the last time anyone other than Germany paid serious attention to the matters being discussed during meetings. England couldn't really blame them, since he shared how they felt as he yawned and stretched, a pile of untouched papers in front of him.

He stayed behind for a bit, waiting for the large bustling crowd of nations hanging around at the door to leave. What was the point of trying to join in on the pushing and shoving, after all? Looking around, he noticed there were others who shared the same sentiment... and others who didn't seem to notice the meeting was over as evident with Greece, who appeared to be deep in slumber.

Once the crowd showed signs of clearing up, England quietly packed up his belongings and began to head towards the door, not bothering to socialise with any of the others. He had already done enough of that prior to the conference, and now he was weary, irritated and more than ready to book the first flight back to his country where he could finally relax. However it was obvious that a certain energetic nation wanted nothing more than to annoy him, as America stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Iggy! Iggy!" he chirped loudly. "Want to eat lunch together?"

England let out an audible groan and glared at him, hoping he would get the message that he didn't want to... not that it worked. When it was clear America was oblivious, he let out a sigh of resignation. "Fine," he responded, noticing the look of pure happiness written on the younger one's face. "As long as where we're eating is not McDonald's."

"Cool," America replied, beaming. "Then we'll go to KFC!" England mentally face-palmed at this. He should've known he'd say that. "I'll pay for everything anyway," the other nation continued, "unless you don't mind paying, of course. I totally think it's cool if you want to pay and-"

"I know you want me to pay," England interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Bloody hell, I'll pay then. Can we just leave this blasted place now?" The fist bump to the air confirmed his thoughts as America nodded, clearly feeling victorious. With a shake of his head - and a subtle but genuine smile, not that he'd admit it - he followed America towards the exit.

However, before they could even take a step out of the meeting room, the door suddenly swung towards them, catching them both off guard. America let out a not-so-manly squeal as he leaped back and crashed directly into England, who collapsed under the sudden weight. "Hey! What the-" he began, but the impact of his back hitting the floor knocked the air out of him and halted his speech temporarily.

When America had finally gotten up and patted the dust off his pants, he glanced at the shut door and frowned, a look of confusion painted across his face. "What the heck just happened?" he wondered out loud, heading towards it and turning the knob. Nothing happened. He tried again. "It's locked?!"

England got up and glared daggers at him. "Very funny, America!" he snapped, pointing an accusing finger at him. "This better not be another prank you've got up your sleeve!" It was bad enough during the last meeting when he tripped over the invisible wire and directly into the chest of Hungary, who was more than ready to whack him with that frying pan of hers.

"I'm not kidding!" America protested, and when he turned around to look back at him, England could see genuine perplexion at what happened. "This time I have nothing planned, I swear!"

Across the room there was the sound of someone clearing their throat - _France;_ England pulled a disgusted face at that - before he spoke up. "Well, whoever's pulling tricks this time will need to stop, as Spain, Prussia and I would like to head out now." Wait, Prussia? Since when did he come in to the meeting room? "Either that or someone can break open the door."

America opened his mouth, probably to volunteer to do the job, but he was cut off by the sudden darkness that engulfed the room as the lights went out.

Before anyone could even process what happened, America squeaked loudly in shock and grabbed tightly onto England's arm. The action almost made England laugh out loud in amusement, but he quickly suppressed it as he began to wonder who was behind this. First the locked door, and now the lights... was it Denmark, maybe? He seemed more than eager to leave the meeting room...

"Okay, this isn't fucking funny anymore." The pissed off voice of Romano sounded from the other side of the room. "Can someone turn the goddamn lights back on?! Or at least pull the curtains back open so the sun can shine through this shitty room?"

"Are you scared of the dark, Roma?" Spain asked, sounding amused.

"The fuck did you say, you jerk?!"

"Ow!"

England rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'll go and find the light switch. Hold on." He moved forwards, not surprised at all to find that America was following him too, iron grip not leaving his arm. As he blindly waved his free hand in front of him, England was able to locate the wall and begin to slide his palms across it in search for the switch.

"Hurry up!" Turkey yelled from somewhere close to him. "We haven't got all day!"

"It's hard to find the bloody thing in the dark, you know!" England flashed back angrily at the same time his hands brushed across it. "There, I found it. Now how about you-"

There was the rush of wind from next to him as he felt someone else beat him to the switch. Probably America in his rush of desperation to get it back on, he figured, but as soon as the light returned, he found that the person next to him was most definitely _not_ him... in fact he didn't even know who it was.

The first thing that came to mind was, ' _What is with everyone interrupting me?!_ ' and then it was, _'Who's this? A robber?'_ But even that didn't seem like the right sort of description. The figure was dressed completely in black from head to toe, a contrasting white mask hiding the identity that lay underneath. What stood out was the fact that the jacket they wore was a little too big for them, and so it appeared to slip off on one side, revealing a little bit of... is that a hickey?

Not that he had much time to ponder over it as the figure pulled out a bat from behind him, aiming it right towards England.

"Wha-" Before England could even make a move to dodge the attack, the blunt weapon was brought straight down with full force, hitting him directly on the head. Milliseconds later, England felt a searing pain from the impact and immediately fell down to his knees, making a sort-of choking sound as dizziness began to wash over him, black dots appearing in his vision.

 _"England?!"_ He heard his name being chorused in horror by some of the nations around the room, but it sounded distant, as he already felt himself losing consciousness. He fell forwards and hit the floor again for the second time - and this would've been a little humorous to him if it wasn't for the fact that he had just been attacked. A low groan escaped his lips before he felt himself close his eyes and slip away into the darkness.

Before he fainted, he heard the sound of the bat being swung again.


	2. Chapter 2 - Trepidation

**Author's Note** : This chapter turned out a lot longer than I thought... Originally it was around 2k words, but after editing, proofreading and adding a few more paragraphs it turned into 3k. I guess this can make up for the 1k words I wrote in the first chapter (actually, both chapter 1 and this chapter were initially put together, but I decided to spread them out since I thought it would fit better). Umm, so I hope you enjoy reading this xD 

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"Oww..."

As soon as he realised that the pain wasn't about to leave anytime soon, England reluctantly blinked open his eyes, desperately attempting to ignore the throbbing ache in his head as he tried to familiarise himself with his whereabouts. Nothing seemed to click into his mind. Instantly he grew alert, and he forced himself to his feet as he studied his surroundings more closely.

From what he observed he was in a long hallway surrounded by solid-grey stone, with numerous wooden doors on either side. There was barely any light save for the small-lit torches that filled the walls. When he looked around for windows, he found that he couldn't see a single one.

"Where the bloody hell am I...?" he mumbled to himself.

He staggered forward, but instantly fell down again as the pain in his head increased tenfold. Did he really get hit on the head _that_ hard? England could barely remember the events prior to his current situation, but as time slowly passed he began to recollect bits and pieces that eventually brought back his memory.

Was he kidnapped? It appeared to be the most likely option. But by who? That, he didn't have any clue, much to his frustration. He only knew that it had to be the mysterious figure in the meeting room. Who else would want to do this, after all? And who owned a castle-like structure as a house, anyway? England needed answers, not that he knew how to get them.

Some time passed - maybe minutes, maybe hours - when England finally had enough strength to get back up again and take a few steps towards the end of the hallway, using the wall as support. It was a sluggish journey, but eventually he managed to reach his destination. Satisfied with this, he glanced around the corner, expecting to see more hallways.

And more hallways he did see.

He also saw a body sprawled across the ground.

"America?!" The shock in his voice was obvious as he instantly rushed towards the younger nation's side, pain instantly forgotten. His cry of shock must have woken America up as he stirred slightly and opened his eyes, staring at him.

America groaned in reply and clutched his own head when he tried to get up. "England?" he muttered, sounding uncertain.

It was then when the older realised that he didn't have his glasses on. Glancing around, he found them off to the side about a metre away from them. Quickly he picked them up and attempted to put them back on America's face. "Are you okay?" he questioned, even though the answer was clear. "What happened?"

There was a moment's pause as the American tried to remember. "Some guy came and smashed your head... I think he hit mine next or something... God, I feel like I'm having a hangover..."

This didn't come off as a surprise to England, as he already assumed this was the case. America was strong, and could've fought the attacker off, but considering the fact that they were both close to the masked figure they didn't have enough time to register the situation before they were both hit. He slowly stood up and extended a hand. "Can you stand?"

America stared up at the older nation. "Can you carry me?" he asked childishly.

England rolled his eyes in response. "No, you're a grown man and can do it yourself." He began to turn on his heel and walk back the way he came. "Otherwise I'll just go and find a way out without you."

"Okay, okay... wait up!" He could hear America scrambling to his feet. Soon after, he heard him curse in pain, forcing England to turn around and check if he was alright, but it seemed that he didn't need to when he saw that the other had already caught up to him and was adjusting the glasses on his face. "I was only joking around, you know," America added, wincing a little. It reminded England of his own headache, but it seemed to have numbed down a bit already. Perhaps the fright of seeing America on the floor helped with coping with the discomfort.

"This is hardly the time to be 'joking around'," England pointed out, a little exasperated.

America tilted his head. "Yeah, but think about it - this whole 'getting stuck in a weird place' thing could also be a joke too!" he replied, gesturing towards their surroundings. "It's almost Halloween, y'know. This is the perfect setting to creep someone out!"

England frowned. Was he actually being serious... a _joke?_ "How the bloody hell can this be a 'joke'?" he demanded, staring at the other in disbelief. "We just got knocked out with a _bat_ by someone! Who does that for a scare?!"

Finally some sort of realisation managed to click itself into America's mind. "...Oh," he said simply. England snorted in reply, still unable to comprehend how it took him so long to get it. "Then... what happens next?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are we going to spend the rest of our time wandering around in this place until we find an exit?" England was about to respond that yes, they didn't have much of a choice otherwise, but America still wasn't done talking. "We might even find zombies! Maybe _that's_ why the weird person captured us. That'd be so cool - it's like we're from a movie!" His blabbering left England in stunned silence, trying to understand what in the world the younger nation was talking about.

"...You wanker!" he growled when he finally comprehended the other's words. "Firstly, of _course_ we'll be looking for an exit. Secondly, there is _no such thing as a zombie_ and third... _nothing_ about being stuck in an unknown place is 'cool'! Can you just _please_ be serious for once and consider the obvious fact that this is not a laughing matter anymore?"

America looked a little startled by this. "I'll try to...?" he offered weakly, rubbing his head. England decided to accept this answer. It was the best America could do, he supposed.

With a nod, England sped up his pace a little as he continued to explore the place. America followed from behind, a little to slow to catch up at first, but eventually able to keep up with the speed. His headache was beginning to fade away - much to his relief. As he turned corners, he tried to memorise where they were going, forming a map in his head. Clearly it seemed that he wasn't doing a great job, considering that his map wasn't accurate at all. America seemed to be quiet for once, and this satisfied England greatly as he was able to focus better now. That being said, at times he had to turn around to check if America was really following him silently or he had run away to carry out his own adventure.

Ten minutes of walking around later, both nations could hear voices in the distance. They froze immediately and backed up against the wall, trying to figure out where the source of sound was coming from and by whom. While there was the possibility it could be people they know, there was still the chance that they were the kidnappers. As they inched closer and closer, England began to recognise them as Hungary and Prussia.

"Gilbird! Gilbird!" the ex-nation called out, sounding desperate.

There was a sigh from the Hungarian nation. "You may as well give up now, you idiot," she said. and England swore he could _feel_ her rolling her eyes at him. "Your precious little bird is nowhere to be found."

"But we can't just leave him! He's the only company I have that actually likes and respects my awesomeness, you know!"

"...Okay yeah, whatever. Shut up before I hit you with my imaginary frying pan."

"Ha! I just remembered that you can't hit me anymore now that your beloved pan is- OW! That hurts, you bitch!"

 _'Are these two for real?_ ' England thought, incredulous. Were they not aware of their current situation? Was he really the _only_ person who believed that they were in a pretty serious predicament? He couldn't believe it.

"That's what you get for- hey! I see someone!"

It was then when both England and America realised that Hungary had spotted them once turning the corner. They looked at each other for a moment, before Prussia finally broke the silence as he made his appearance from the other side. "Well hello to you too," he said, then gestured towards his companion. "Can you help me take her before she kills us all?"

Hungary rolled her eyes at him, but then flashed the other two a smile. "Don't mind him. He's just being the idiot that he is. It's good that we found you, actually," she added. "Especially after seeing what happened before..." Her face fell a little at this, and so did the others. "That weird person knocked the rest of us out as well, I think. But I have suspicion to believe that someone else was helping out too, otherwise how could they have hit _all_ of us?"

England couldn't argue with that. He had already made this assumption too, since there had to be someone from the _outside_ to have shut them _in_. In that case, there would've been at _least_ three people who were behind this.

"Do you have any clue where we might be?" he asked the other two nations, hoping that they would have an answer.

To his disappointment, Hungary and Prussia shook their heads helplessly. "No idea," Hungary responded with a sigh. "But if you two are here, then that must mean the others who were at the meeting room would be here also."

"Wait, so Austria would be in this place too?" Prussia asked, suddenly looking worried. "Then we really need to find him."

For once, Hungary agreed with the albino. "Yes! So let's group up and search for him then... and also for the others," she added quickly, although it was painfully clear that she was only interested in finding the Austrian. "We also have to find my frying pan and the exit, too."

"And Gilbird!" Prussia put in, but Hungary didn't seem to be listening.

Suddenly, America frowned and spoke up for once, almost surprising England. "Hey, I was just wondering... who else was in the meeting room?"

England gave him a confused look, but decided to answer him anyway since it seemed like important information. "I only remember seeing France, Spain, Romano and Turkey..." he said, deep in thought as he tried to remember who else there was.

"Don't forget Austria!" Hungary piped in excitedly. "I also saw Germany there as well. He was looking over his notes, I think. Italy was there with him too, talking about pasta. How cute!"

"Is that all we can remember?" England questioned. Everyone shrugged and nodded. "I know for certain that we've missed others... but perhaps we'll find them sooner or later, anyway, as that will be our primary goal. We'll also look for an exit. And the frying pan," he added quickly when he saw Hungary narrow her eyes. "...and the bird."

"Finding the bird is optional though," Hungary replied, earning herself a glare from Prussia. "But that frying pan is a must. Who knows what I'll need it for, you know?"

"...Right." 

* * *

The more they continued to explore the place, the more England was sure that they were in a castle of some kind. What castle this was and where was it located was the question though, as he wasn't sure. What bothered him greatly was the fact that the castle looked recently made, like as though the kidnapper actually built it for the sole _purpose_ of putting the nations in it. With this in mind he involuntarily shuddered, already regretting even thinking about it.

Prussia and Hungary didn't do much to help the situation at all. Either they were fighting and bickering like an old married couple - he wouldn't say this out loud though, not unless he had a death wish - or they were yelling out the names of their precious items, hoping that by calling out it would bring them back... or something.

It wasn't long before America started to complain. "I'm so tired!" he whined loudly over Prussia and Hungary's arguing. "We've been walking around for _ages_ and we haven't found anything useful at all! Can we just stop and rest for a moment, _please?"_

England sighed before turning to see what the other two nations thought about the idea of resting. However, they still seemed to be in the heat of the argument, so he decided to agree with America and have a rest. He had to admit that he was rather tired with all the walking that was done. The pain in his head was barely noticeable now, but every now and then it would hurt a little. He supposed it would be a good idea to maybe even nap a little to recover. "We'll rest for half an hour or so," he replied. "Then get back to looking for the others. Having a lot of company could be extremely helpful to us."

"This reminds me a bit of _'Resident Evil'_ , you know!" America exclaimed, positive energy flowing out of him once again. England exhaled again, annoyed this time. Here we go... "Before we know it, zombies are going to appear all over the place and try to turn us into zombies too! But by then we'll probably have enough shotguns to kill them off like in ' _Black Ops'_!"

"...Let's just rest for now," he said through gritted teeth instead. He had to admit that he was pretty proud of how he managed to refrain from whacking America in the head. Sometimes the other could really get on his nerves, but it had come to the point where he managed to gain enough self-control to somehow _tolerate_ him and his hyperactivity. Eventually the other two nations had finally noticed that they had stopped walking. They both halted their chatter as they leaned against the wall, realising their own weariness. England and America were both sat down on the floor, legs suddenly feeling too weak at the moment to even support their weight.

England began to recall the events that happened before, hoping that maybe he could recollect a piece of evidence that would pinpoint who the attacker was. The door had shut before they exited... which was why he and the others believed there was more than one person involved. There was no one near the light switch when the lights suddenly went off, meaning that someone was playing with the box downstairs. Perhaps this was the same person who had closed the doors on them? It seemed likely, though they would've had to rush down to do so. Then, when the lights went back on, the figure was next to him. He frowned. The door didn't open the whole time ever since it closed on them.

This only meant one thing - the masked figure was in the meeting room the whole time.

So... who was it then? England gave Prussia and Hungary a wary glance, but they didn't look like as though they would do such a thing. That being said, he still couldn't bring himself to trust them completely. The culprits would be doing their best to remain incognito, wouldn't they? Admittedly he felt most suspicious of Prussia, who had randomly appeared inside the meeting room once it was over. He also didn't seem to be in pain from being attacked on the head... or anywhere else...

His thoughts drifted to America, who was looking at the other two nations - who had started to fight again - with mild interest. He definitely knew that America wasn't the masked figure, since the younger nation was right behind him when the figure appeared. This meant that he could trust him, right? He also had reason to doubt him though, as he could be an assistant of some sort... but with that being said, he still believed that the younger nation was completely innocent. He didn't have evidence to prove it, however one could could simply call it a hunch.

"Hey England," Hungary said, snapping him out of this thoughts. "How long are we going to stand around here for?"

"I suggested half an hour, but if you want we can stay a little longer," he answered, already feeling rather comfortable with where he was seated on the ground.

She nodded and sat down next to him. "Half an hour then." Prussia stared at the both of them before doing the same, and all four just stayed in an awkward silence, unsure of what to do now that they had stopped walking.

Suddenly, a distant scream tore through the air, startling all of them at once.

Instantly they all looked around, wondering where it came from. England was already up from the floor, fear washing over him. "W-what was that?!" he stammered, but no one responded to his question.

Another screech followed afterwards, and this time England recognised it. His eyes widened and he looked back at the others, noticing that they had the same look of horror and realisation. It continued again, screen after scream, and during this time none of them made an attempt to move and see what was going on.

And then the screaming stopped. There was no sound afterwards.

No one dared to speak. Instead they just stared at each other, wondering if what they had just heard was real. America was extremely pale in the face, while Hungary had a hand over her mouth, looking sick. Prussia was in some sort of a daze.

It was only about a few minutes later when England had recovered a little from the initial shock and finally cut the silence with a small shaky voice. He almost regretted speaking as soon as the name left his mouth.

"C-China...?" 

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**Author's Note** : And that's the end of the chapter! It kind-of ended in a cliffhanger, sorry about that... but this is where the gory horror stuff starts to happen. I'm not too good at writing descriptively though, so maybe some parts might sound a little awkward. I'll probably proofread over these chapters again when I have the time later. Anyway, thank you for reading~ Any feedback you have is greatly appreciated, as I hope to improve!


	3. Chapter 3 - Cold Blood

**Author's Note** : Casually updating at random times... I would've updated this earlier but I'm a lazy and unmotivated person x'D. I dropped a few clues in this chapter (and I think one or two in the previous one? I can't remember already /shot) that might help with finding out who's behind all of this. Maybe you'll figure it out? The clues aren't really that useful right now though, but later, when you learn more about the place (and the actions of the characters). I'll probably proofread this later, since I didn't really check this properly... I spent all of the past few days just watching gameplays and TV shows ._ . Oh well, I hope you enjoy this~

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Much like the other nations in the meeting room, Romano didn't know exactly _how_ to react to the sight of a random person dressed completely in black holding a bat and wearing the most ridiculous mask he'd ever seen.

He remembered his first instinct was to laugh out loud at how stupid the figure looked and throw an insult or two in their direction, but as soon as the bat made contact with England's head he realised that shit was actually serious and he needed to react quickly before he fell under the same unfortunate fate. However, it became clear that there was _another_ person with a weapon when he heard someone behind him groan and fall to the ground - Spain, was it? He couldn't be sure. Before he could even turn around to see what happened he had been caught too.

When he regained consciousness Romano found himself in a weird ancient-but-modern-looking place. After walking around for a few hours he became increasingly certain that he was the only living thing inside, as he could not find anyone, much to his fear. _'Please tell me that I'm not the only one inside this creepy shithole..._ 'he thought to himself, feeling incredibly lonely.

That very thought left his mind immediately once he heard China's pained screaming from right around the corner.

 _'What the fuck?!'_ He had almost screamed himself in fright, but quickly managed to stop himself by covering his mouth. It was obvious that China was being attacked, based on the horrifically disturbing noises of someone being _stabbed_. He glanced around, finding something that he could perhaps hide behind from whatever was happening, but found nothing. Instead he could only rely on pressing himself up close against the wall and hoping for the best.

With each stabbing noise that was made, another scream was erupted. Romano felt an immense wave of guilt and panic spreading over him as he realised that he could've just attempted to save the Chinese nation instead of cower and hide in plain sight right next to what was happening. However, he still couldn't bring himself to move forward and act like a hero - he was too scared, too selfish and too indecisive, with conflicting emotions racing across his confused mind.

Eventually there was silence. Holding his breath, Romano hoped that the attacker would not head towards his direction. There was the sound of something blunt hitting with a _clang_ onto the ground, resulting in the assumption that it was the knife that was used to stab China with. He shivered, feeling more terrified than before.

There was then the sound of something sliding across the floor - China's body, he figured - and it came as a huge guilty relief when he realised that the attacker was moving _away_ from him. This meant that Romano was safe - for now, at least - from the horrors that happened to the other nation. He didn't want to think about what would happen if the attacker found him too.

After standing frozen for about ten full minutes, Romano made the decision to move forward towards the scene. As much as he didn't want to - and he _really_ didn't want to - he knew that the attacker had carelessly left their knife lying on the ground, meaning that he could take it and use it in self-defence. He could also use it to get revenge for what happened to China... but he wasn't sure if he was up to that task yet. He sure as hell wasn't brave enough to do that.

With a shaky sigh, he closed his eyes, exhaled, took a few steps forward, turned the corner and opened them.

He almost fainted.

What lay before him was an extremely disturbing scene. There was blood. Lots of it. Splattered all across the walls and floors. Romano suddenly felt nauseous and dizzy, and he backed away, his eyes never leaving the scene. Guilt washed over him again. He should've done something. Whatever happened to China was _horrible_ , something far worse than what he could even imagine.

But _why_ was the attacker out to murder the nations? This was something Romano couldn't understand at all. It wasn't like they did anything _so_ wrong that they would have to be put under such suffering like China did... Other than swearing and being a little violent, Romano couldn't think of anything else he did that would make someone do this.

Suddenly a thought appeared. _'Wait, if China is here, then that means there would be others here too._ ' This had to be a likely possibility, especially since he doubted the attacker would just only put him and China in a large unknown place. If there were others, then they would've been able to hear China's scream as well. Maybe they were coming at this very moment to see what had happened. With this in mind, he felt reassured that he could feel safe again in the company of others. He just had to wait.

 _'Oh... but if they're coming, wouldn't the killer know this too and come back to get them?'_

The realisation struck Romano hard and his eyes widened with horror. Immediately he rushed back against the very wall he was hiding behind before, feeling himself starting to hyperventilate. Desperately he tried to even out his breathing and calm down a little, hoping that he wouldn't have a panic attack at the worst possible time.

Suddenly he remembered: ' _Shit_ _! I forgot about the knife!'_

Quickly he darted out from his hiding spot and headed towards the knife. There was blood all over it, even on the handle, and Romano hesitated for a moment, wondering if there was another way to pick the knife up.

He instantly regretted his hesitation when he heard the sound of footsteps.

 _Tap. Tap. Tap._

They were coming closer and closer. Terror seized Romano in the chest. He had to go now. With a loud yelp he sped off, running as fast as his legs could possibly allow him to sprint.

He could hear that the footsteps had quickened and were chasing after him, and this only made him increase his own speed in a desperate attempt to outrun the other. He didn't dare look back, worried that by doing so he would slow down, something which he could not afford to do. Quickly he turned corner after corner, hoping that he would lose his pursuer this way.

It didn't work.

' _Of course it fucking wouldn't!'_ he realised. _'This guy probably lives here or something!'_

Romano kept running. He wasn't going to give up. There was no way he'd let himself get caught so quickly and easily! At the same time, he didn't want to end up with the same unfortunate fate as China… His thoughts returned back to the horrific scene back at the hallway that he witnessed. This only motivated him to flee faster.

But the faster he ran, the faster his chaser ran too. It wasn't long before Romano felt himself getting tired. What was he going to do once he couldn't go on anymore? His heart rate increased tenfold and he turned another corner, using the wall to steer himself away faster.

He glanced at the end of the hallway. It was a door.

He'd reached a dead end.

Despite this, he kept running anyway. Perhaps he could find something past that door that he could use to defend himself. At least he would be able to put up a fight for a while, and hopefully manage to stun his pursuer for a while to give him enough time to dash back out towards the hallway again. He prayed hard that the door wasn't locked. Otherwise he'd be done for. Once he had reached the end, he grabbed onto the knob and turned it violently.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" he yelled loudly and tried again. It didn't work. Romano quickly whirled around, his back pressed against the door. There was no way he could escape now. He was going to end up like China. Maybe he deserved it though, especially since he didn't even lift a finger to help the other nation. He accepted this fate, and glanced up to look at his chaser, bracing himself for the seemingly inevitable pain that was to follow.

'… _Wait, what?'_

"Roma!" an all-too-familiar face cried out breathlessly as he threw his arms around the Italian, hugging him tightly. Romano stiffened at the sudden contact, but then relaxed soon after, knowing that he was not in any danger. That being said, he was still extremely shocked to see that he wasn't chased by a killer, but instead his _former caretaker_. It was a huge relief for him though, and he was more than glad to know that he now had company with him in this strange place. "I saw you run away from me," Spain continued as he finally let go. "Why did you do that?"

"T-that's because I thought you were someone else trying to stab me, you jerk," Romano muttered in response, panting a little. The realisation that he wasn't going to die was still processing in his mind. It almost sounded far too good to be true, but it was reality, and he was just extremely lucky. "You could've at least called out my name or something," he pointed out. "Then maybe I would've stopped running."

"You were running too fast," Spain replied. "I was worried that you wouldn't hear me."

Romano remained quiet at this, understanding the logic behind it. It was true – in the midst of panic he probably wouldn't have listened to whatever he would've said. But it was over already, and he wasn't alone anymore. This reassured him slightly. Spain noticed his sudden unresponsiveness and gave him a concerned look. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. "Did something happen?"

" _You_ chasing _me_ was what happened," he responded immediately with a roll of his eyes, but then he sighed. "I… I really thought you were the person that…" He swallowed, grimacing. "…that hurt China."

Spain's eyes widened. "What? What happened to China?!"

"He got stabbed and then dragged away. There was blood on that hallway, remember? Didn't you see it?"

"O-oh, I did…" It looked like he just realised the connection. "I saw a trail of blood before the hallway too, but I avoided it. So the blood was China's..." Spain shook his head. "He should be okay though, since nations can't die. It's impossible for us to, right?"

That was true. Every nation knew this for certain. But that didn't make Romano feel any better. Just because they could escape death didn't mean that they could escape pain, and China had undergone an unbelievably torturous one. There were things worse than death. "Wait, didn't you hear China screaming?" Romano asked, confused.

"I heard screaming, but I didn't think it was his," Spain admitted. "I was quite a distance away from where it was happening, and decided to see what was going on. If I have to be honest, I thought he was just scared by something he saw," he added. "I mean, there are some pretty strange things in the rooms around here…"

Romano gave him a curious look. "Like what?"

"Like… a guillotine." Spain shivered, and Romano did the same before he could even realise it. "I don't know why there would be one here! I just walked into one of the rooms down a hallway and there it was. It was pretty scary, especially since there was blood on it."

" _What?!"_ As if Romano wasn't terrified enough. Now he knew that there were weird killing devices in the place that are _used_. In that case, it meant that finding an exit would be their top priority before they ended up having their heads separated from their bodies. With that said though, it seemed that finding a way out would be difficult, seeing as the building they were in was incredibly large. However, thinking about this sparked up a previous thought. "We need to find the others," he said, surprising Spain. "They must be here too. It'll be easier for us to get out of here together… plus, we have more people to fight off the crazy guy who stabbed China."

Spain stared at him, suddenly serious. "But what about China?" he questioned, and this effectively silenced Romano. "Are we just going to leave him here? We don't even know where he is, and he won't be looking around for us either, since he would be in a lot of pain…"

"We'll… we'll look for him too," Romano replied, but he sounded uncertain, and it was clear that Spain noticed his hesitance. For a moment they didn't speak, but then the Italian mumbled, "We should probably look around now. We don't even know where we are."

"Right," Spain agreed, and then glanced back at the hallway they had run through. "Let's turn left from here and see where it takes us—"

 _BANG! SMASH!_

Both nations halted in their actions immediately, shocked by the sudden noise. It sounded not too far from them. There was a pain of cry that followed soon after. Romano's heart began to pound harder. Was the attacker already off to hurt someone else…?

Romano was contemplating the thought of either making a mad run for it or finding a place to hide when he saw that Spain had suddenly dashed _towards_ the sound, leaving him behind. "W-what the heck are you doing?!" the younger hissed. "Are you crazy?!" But he followed him anyway, making him question his own sanity.

They stopped in front of a wooden door. Romano looked back at Spain, who looked a little fearful. It disappeared soon after to be replaced with determination. He swung the door open and barged in, ready to attack. Romano hid behind, unsure of what to do as they found themselves witnessing…

"I-I'm so sorry, France-san! I hope I didn't hit you too hard!"

Spain blinked a few times, looking as though he was still trying to piece together what was happening. Romano finished the puzzle faster than he did. "What the hell?! I thought you were getting attacked by the murderous knife freak, you bastard! And you," he added, glaring at Spain. "What were you thinking, running into here like that? We could've gotten ourselves killed!"

France and Japan watched them, eyes wide. "Well, isn't this a surprise…" France said finally.

Romano rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I can't believe I was actually concerned for your safety."

Japan quickly cut in before any unnecessary chatter began to happen. "Wait, you said something about a 'murderous knife freak'? What did you mean by that?"

"Uhh…" Romano initially gave them a blank stare, but then soon realised that they probably didn't know what he was talking about. Who would, anyway? 'Murderous knife freak' wasn't really the best way to describe the person. "I'm talking about the same guy who got China…"

Based by Japan's reaction, it seemed like he only just knew about what China's situation. France, however, knew exactly what he meant. This meant that Japan was nowhere near the area where China was during the time he was screaming... ' _Just how big is this place?_ ' Romano wondered. ' _Is there more than one floor or something?'_

"What does that person want with us?" France asked, as though he was expecting a definite answer.

Everyone glanced around at each other as they awaited a response. Unsurprisingly, no one was able to. Spain sighed and shook his head. "It's obvious that we all don't know," he stated, looking determined. "But we'll find the answers, I'm sure. In the meantime, we'll just look around and search for the others… and also to not get caught by that person."

' _Not get caught.'_ For some reason, Romano wasn't sure that was going to happen.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Yep, it's written in a different perspective this time~ From now on I'll be alternating between England and Romano's POV, since I feel it'd be more interesting if you see what's happening from two nations' stories. Originally it was just going to be England's POV but idk, honestly I think it'd be a little boring if it was like that... Um, anyway, thank you for reading this - I hope my writing isn't too cringeworthy to read. I tried my best to stay in-character but knowing me I've probably screwed up somewhere xD


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